The Dannes and Mont-Saint-Frieux dunes form a vast ecosystem that is unique in Europe, covering nearly 1,500 hectares of varied landscapes: white dunes with oyats, grey expanses dotted with mosses and lichens, wetlands and wooded areas, up to the calcareous grasslands at the summit.
Camiers
The site is accessible all year round
Free
Picnic area
Facilities
Car parking
Viewpoint
Dogs welcome
Geosite details
The dunes of Dannes and Mont-Saint-Frieux form a vast ecosystem unique in Europe, covering nearly 1,500 hectares of varied landscapes: white dunes with oyats, grey expanses dotted with mosses and lichens, wetlands and woods, up to the calcareous grasslands of the summit. This dune system combines recent dunes and others, fossils, witnesses of an ancient and complex geology. The natural springs and streams create an exceptional habitat for a remarkable flora and fauna biodiversity. The summit offers breathtaking views of the English Channel and, on a clear day, the English coast.
The 'Big Bang'
13.8 billion years ago
Earth formed
4.6 billion years ago
540 million years ago
The Cambrian explosion of life: animals evolved and diversified as never before on Earth.
Devonian
419 million years ago
390 million years ago the oldest rocks you can see in the Geopark date back to the Middle Devonian. They are still quarried today in the Marquise basin in France.
Carboniferous
359 million years ago
Around 325 million years ago the Geopark was near the equator. The swamp forests from that period are preserved as coal, which was formerly mined in the Marquise basin in France as well as in East Kent and the Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
Permian
299 million years ago
Triassic
252 million years ago
210 million years ago the Geopark was in the centre of the Pangaea supercontinent, and dinosaurs roamed the land!
Jurassic
201 million years ago
150 million years ago the Geopark was submerged under the sea, the sands, clays, limestones, and sandstones that compose the Boulonnais region in France were deposited.
Cretaceous
145 million years ago
Over about 40 million years from 100-60 million years ago, Chalk formed at the bottom of a warm, shallow sea where the Geopark is located today. This was the first step towards the formation of our distinctive chalk landscape, which defines much of the Geopark.
Palaeogene
66 million years ago
Tectonic activity around 40 million years ago uplifted the territory of the Geopark by dozens of metres, creating an extensive chalk landscape that connected France and Great Britain.
Neogene
23 million years ago
Quaternary
2.6 million years ago
450,000 years ago, a megaflood destroyed the chalk ridge connecting Calais and Dover, creating the iconic white cliffs of the Geopark we see today
